First and Second Language Acquisition: Parallels and Differences (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics) - Softcover

Meisel, Jürgen M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052155764X ISBN 13: 9780521557641

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Infants and very young children develop almost miraculously the ability of speech, without apparent effort, without even being taught – as opposed to the teenager or the adult struggling without, it seems, ever being able to reach the same level of proficiency as five-year olds in their first language. This useful textbook serves as a guide to different types of language acquisition: monolingual and bilingual first language development and child and adult second language acquisition. Unlike other books, it systematically compares first and second language acquisition, drawing on data from several languages. Research questions and findings from various subfields are helpfully summarized to show students how they are related and how they often complement each other. The essential guide to studying first and second language acquisition, it will be used on courses in linguistics, modern languages and developmental psychology.

About this title

About the Author

Jürgen M. Meisel is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics in the Department of Romance Languages and a member and former Chair (1999–2006) of the Research Center on Bilingualism at the University of Hamburg. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Distinguished Fellow in the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Calgary. He is one of the founding editors and current co-editor of the journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, published by Cambridge University Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 052155764X
• ISBN 13: 9780521557641
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 318